Perry co-wrote the song with Max Martin, Cathy Dennis, and its producer Dr. Luke, with additional production from Benny Blanco.

The song sparked controversy for its handling of bi-curious themes, but in retrospect has been credited with increasing LGBT awareness in pop music.

"I Kissed a Girl" is one of eight songs by Perry to sell over 4 million digital copies in the US, the others being "Hot n Cold", "California Gurls", "Teenage Dream", "Firework", "E.T.

The video, directed by Kinga Burza, features the singer in a setting inspired by burlesque and Moulin Rouge styles.

Then all of a sudden at the very, very end of making my album, I literally had two days left in the recording studio with my producer, Dr Luke.

Dennis Reese, Capitol's senior vice president of promotions, saw the vision and helped push the single on national radio.

Rich Davis, then PD, was played the song by Joe Rainey of Capitol Records outside his favorite sushi spot in Nashville and immediately put it on the air.

The song is a pop rock,[6][7] new wave,[8] and electropop,[9][10][11] track which runs through a throbbing beat[5] and an organic instrumental thump, according to About.com's Bill Lamb.

There were a number of personnel who engineered the track for the album, including Emily Wright, Sam Holland, Nick Banns, Aniela Gottwald, Mike Caffrey, and Tina Kennedy.

[17] In an interview with the German online web show MalcolmMusic, Macy Gray revealed that "I Kissed a Girl" was initially offered to her before Perry ended up releasing the song.

"[12] However, Rolling Stone magazine, while giving her album 2/5 stars, described the song as a "new wave-y club single", saying the supposedly rebellious "attention-grabbing" lyrics are "a vanilla recounting of her chick-on-chick exploits" and that this "acting out" is "just to get a dude's attention.

"[21] AllMusic praises "the stomping Gary Glitter beat" before criticizing the producers for turning it "into a leaden stumble and burying Perry's voice underneath Pro Tools overdubs so it all winds up as a faceless wash of sound designed to be placed in TV shows, movie trailers, and malls.

"[22] Sal Cinquemani of Slant Magazine wrote that Perry's "lead single 'I Kissed a Girl' features a throbbing beat and an infectious, bi-curious hook, but its self-satisfied, in-your-face posturing rings phony in comparison to the expertly constructed ambiguities of 'Justify My Love' or practically anything in the first decade of Ani DiFranco's catalog; it's like a tween version of DiFranco's tortured bisexual confession 'Light of Some Kind'.

Some folks (and protective friends) were angry, and wondered why she took my title and made it into this kind of "girls gone wild" thing.... As a musician I have always refrained from criticizing another artist.

Days later, Sobule explained in a Huffington Post article she penned, stating, I thought maybe this time I would have fun with it and goof on what many of my fans were hoping to hear over the last year.

I prefaced my reply with a wink, and then rambled on with a string of over the top dumb-ass profanities, purposely out of character and completely in jest ...

AllMusic concluded, "the problem is not with Katy's gender-bending, it's that her heart isn't in it; she's just using it to get her places, so she sinks to crass, craven depths.

"[22] Slant Magazine agreed, saying the song "isn't problematic because it promotes homosexuality, but because its appropriation of the gay lifestyle exists for the sole purpose of garnering attention — both from Perry's boyfriend and her audience.

"[23] Adam Holz of PluggedinOnline, a division of Focus on the Family, wrote an article entitled "A Tale of Two Katys"[28] about the singer's image transformation from a Contemporary Christian music artist to one of the "girls gone wild."

[33] On the other hand, according to The Advocate, Perry claims she has heard countless stories of people opening their eyes to their own sexual desires because of the song.

[37] When asked about her own sexuality, Perry told Santa Barbara magazine: "I like to kiss boys, but there is no doubt in my mind if Angelina Jolie or Gisele Bündchen came a callin', who wouldn't pucker up?

"[42] In February 2009, Márcio Barros, a substitute English language teacher in Distrito Federal, Brazil, public school was fired after he used the song in a class activity among students aged 12 to 14.

[46] The single also crossed over to Billboard's sister publication R&R's Rhythmic chart in its July 5 issue, where not only did she have the highest debut ever for a non-rhythmic track, entering at No.

As of August 2020, the song has been certified sextuple platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA)[50] and sold 4.8 million copies in the United States.

[52] Alongside Basshunter's "Now You're Gone" and "Mercy" by Duffy, "I Kissed a Girl" spent more weeks at the top of the UK Singles Chart than any other song in 2008.

As of March 2012, the single had sold 654,560 copies in the United Kingdom, becoming her fourth-best-selling song in Britain, behind "Firework", "Roar" and "California Gurls".

The video was directed by Kinga Burza and features a Moulin Rouge and burlesque-type setting with scenes of Perry, along with many other flamboyantly dressed women dancing to the song.

Perry features her real-life friend and DJ, Mia Moretti, Markus Molinari's cat Bella and Kesha in the music video.

[56] Other honors given to the song include the following: A cover version by Barnicle entered the UK Singles Chart (published August 3, 2008) at position No.

[citation needed] The song is featured in the films Fiston, Blended, Boy Meets Girl and Pitch Perfect 2 along with the television shows Glee, Skins, The Hills, 20 to 1, The Big Bang Theory, The Game, and RuPaul's Drag Race All Stars.